you see it with people with long-term capital gains. it is hard it fight that. when you look at a stock like altria or xou utilities that i owned, i sold them. but they are starting to stand on their own. i think they have factored in a large portion of that, whether cap gains go from 50 -- i don't think it goes regular, put it that way. >> this was fun. i'm going to steal you from the fast money guys? >> that does it for "power lunch." thanks for watching. >> "street signs" begins now. >> and welcome to a special monday "street signs." we are live at the new york stock exchange. brought to you by the numbers of 21 and 4. 21 day ises to the end of thetof

the year and 4 days for congress to make a deal. how about this for headline? will aging childless voters enslave my future grand children? controversial, yes. spot on, maybe. the author is here. >> indeed he is tp we have a really big show coming up for you. now the markets are still stuck pretty much in neutral. no major gains as we wait out the outcome. keep an eye on macdonald's. same day sales coming in much longer than expected. let's find out what is happening on the floor of the new york stock exchange. mary thompson, what are traders telling you? ? >> this is what they are saying. waiting for news on the fiscal cliff and what ben bernanke if he have anything to say about the fiscal cliff after two-day meeting by federal reserve. they are also watching for bond action. i want to touch on something you were saying.

mcdonald's, a a contributor to the dow strength. these are contributing, very moderate strength. we are seeing strength and materials, healthcare industrials, that where mcdonald's trades, they are lower today. one of the reasons we were talking about same store sales and mcdonald's being stronger, that is a boost to its stock. but we have seen a pull back, most notably the gap before pressure. disappointed and a number of retailers did. that number is a mixed as we head toward thursday. the retailers on the retail sales figures for the month of november. quickly, touch on one deal today. honeywell making acquisition of intermac. $10 a share. honeywell, it wasn't unexpected. started taking a leg down on that. brian back to you. >> mary, thank you.

part of what is giving the market move today along with renewed confidence perhaps. in the chinese economy believe it or not. >>es so are pushing the odds to right around 50/50. now something else to keep an eye on at this hour, the president. he has been keeping public pressure on with his tax plan and he is speaking in detroit at daimler diesel factory. any headlines we will bring to you first. john har wood is tracking negotiations from washington. john, how did this private and personal meeting between john boehner and the president over the weekend go? do we know? >> we don't know. the white house and speaker's office are both being very disciplined about not disclosing content of the meeting. but i think we can take encouragement from the fact that it took place. this there is some progress an prospect of further progress being made. public and private gain, as you indicated.

going to washington to keep pressure on republicans. he believes that is what worked for him ever since the grand bargain talks collapsed in summer of 2011. he campaigned, won reelection. he sees signs of republican cracks in unity about tax rates. bob corker was on our air earlier today, senator from tennessee and said tax rates ought to go up, then we fight about entitlement accounts and the debt limit. i think that's where we are. one thing we need to see from the white house is some sign of what they are willing to give speaker bainer to bring his caucus along on tax rates in terms of entitlement reforms. can't be for nothing. boehner has to be able to tell his members, that i'm getting a good deal, if you raise taxes for people at the top. >> okay, john, thank you very much. in the meantime, if those negotiations fail, are the markets ready to handle a fall off the face fiscal cliff? joining us, david, great to have

you with us. >> thank you. >> hold on, thelma. hold on louise. can will markets handle it? >> i think we can handle it. it seems to me that washington has a way of doing business and washington will continue to change the way -- or continue to do business the way they have always done it. where is us and wall street, we have to change the way we do business. >> so you don't see a big crash in markets as a fall off the cliff. >> no. i see opportunities for people who are less patient. no, i see it all going down. >> where are your clients moving their money? what are you advising them to do, whether we get a deal or not? are there two completely different strategies? >> there is various things on a similar attitude. big is not always good. i think what we are doing is consolidating and moving towards a smaller environment. i think we have smaller investors who can deliver returns.

>> what do you mean by that? types of funtds they are investing in. >> that's correct. i will see many professionals from wall street leaving this side of the business. south side of the business and go to the buy side of the business. and expressing their invest many in the criteria. >> they have what kind of outcome or compromise or deal they might need. >> right. >> in some shape taxes will good up. how do investors prepare for that? >> the way investors prepare for that, most well healed investors have prepared for that and embarked on that strategy. that the problem with taxes going up. the people who can best deal with it are already dealing with it. many people are thinking about different opportunities. >> you've been spot on about a of the risks the last few years. what is the biggest risk to you right now? >> biggest risk rye out in -- >> well not personally but in the markets.

>> well, we can talk about racing too. i think the biggest risk is washington thinks they can get along well with going slow and dithering and with offices going forward, when we know it is business as usual. >> but this is kabookie theater. this is a couple of days of operation for the federal government. 63 trillion deficit with medicare and social security between now and 2035. trillion with a t. >> big t. >> everybody is afraid to say no. to me, that the biggest risk. what keeps you up at night? >> keeping the investment pub lig and keep prague fegsal investors and people participating interested and confident under this market. right now whether you are in europe or the u.s., you don't have that opportunity. you are concerned about what the future has. we don't know what is going to happen going forward. >> as an invest over, are we

living in a more risky environment now than ever? we grew up thinking america was the top of the world, best credit in the world, reserved currency. are things changing with regards to that? >> yeah, i think it is. i think the mind-set has changed. >> do you keep your money here or move it elsewhere. >> i think the u.s. is one of the most attractive places to invest in the world. it continues to serve us. i see the united states as being a great opportunity for invest many going forward and i continue to see opportunities around residential real estate. it'll continue to be that way. we are continuing to recover. >> when will the australian economy completely crash? i only did that because of her clear anti-american sentiment, by the way. >> i have chose to live in this fine country. god bless america. >> she is always making anti-america propaganda. >> i believe there is opportunity this. i'm not an expert in any way shape or form, but i i see

weaknesses and trading because investors are beginning to looseup up and let some of that exposure go. >> very good. >> thank you very much. >> always a pleasure. >> we will talk about car racing another time. >> we hope so. >> regardless of what happenes with the fiscal cliff -- here we go, long-term problems won't go along. the aging population with huge social security end spending. bill is with the competitive institute. your typical calm not controversial headline at all bill, but we appreciate you joining us. the headline is very attention-grabbing. i like some of your points. but people will push back and say, what the answer? telling grand ma, no, i'm sorry, you can't have medical care? >> look at the data, brian wp pe have two trends on a collision course and it is a slow motion train wreck. this is the tendency for young

people to not get married, not form families and not have babies. the numbers are quite startseling. that collides with entitlement democracy where we promised the elderly all these benefits. look at singapore, china be a hong kong. they are trending down to one live birth per woman. every generation, the population haves. even the black plague didn't do that big a job. >> except in asia one of the good things is they still have very much a system where we look after the elderly and grandma and grandpa can live with us. that doesn't seem to be the case in america and other western countries. the government is stepping in for the place of family. when does this end and does it end badly, bill? >> i think it ends in deep declines in western civilization. you're right. with the asian family culture is stronger than ours but look at greece, look at italy, southern

europe. the united states where families are falling apart. there is day of wreckoning for democracies all over the world. >> how do we fix it? telling grandma no. >> there is no fixing it. there is no fixing it. this is just something we have to watch. trends are unstoppable. their entire cohort of young japanese men called herbivores. these men live on comic books, video games, and masturbation. all you can do is look out for yourself. i don't think there is an answer. >> we need productive babies. who can coach us at our old age. >> herbivores won't help with that. >> one thing about america is we can suck the rest of the world dry if we can continue to attract hardworking people around the country.

they will still go over the cliff and we will still be around. >> i will go on other shows, other networks on msnbc, and i think sometimes it is just scary. scary to say the typical median household will extract hundreds of thousands of more in medical care and social security than they ever paid into the system. nobody want to hear that. so how do we get over the political hump? doesn't sound like you think that anybody is actually going to be able to solve the problem. so the end of that tells me, is the eventually the u.s. defaults. >> yeah. hype every inflation and along comes the man on the horse. >> we need a politician who can stand up and make the tough decisions. bill, thank you very much. >> yeah. now i need the luck. on deck, is it time for forced savings in america? we're not talking about 401(k)

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china making its move to take over a company that has been a thorn in president obama ae side. a 123. it is a battery company. a chinese auto parts maker put in a winning bid for the beleaguered green giant. just fill us in on why it is so politically controversy, phil. >> a 123 received a loan by the department of energy, $249 million loan, plannedy. they say, you took that money in order to start up a business. that is a acceseparate question to now the chinese company bought it. the wanxiang group does a lot in the auto industry if n china. now they have an american division. the china plant, not any defense business, we will talk about

that in just a bit. again, a123 did receive a $249 million lone from the u.s. government. what becomes of a123 now? essentially johnson controls within also bidding during the bankruptcy process for the battery part of the business dropped out. when they said, there bidding is too rich. we don't think the price matches the assets. they dropped out. a123 does have about 3,000 employees in the u.s. this has to be approved by the committee for foreign investment. remember, this is what hatches when you have a foreign firm buying a u.s. company like this. it has to be approved and there are more than a prove, mandy and brian, in washington, saying, do we really want the wanxiang group having access to the assets of a123. a123 add little bit of defense work, and it went to a different

company. we will see whether or not this deal gets approved. >> let's bring in alan, research fellow at u.s. business and research council. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> you think this deal should not be allowed, how come? >> this is so mind-boggling stupid. i can't believe it's even come up. the last thing the u.s. economy needs is giving a larger footprint to the chinese system. china's corporate criminals who are often inditing wishable. we don't want to give the chinesing nomic sift apple larger footprint into american capitalism. secondly, this makes a mock rift green energy policies. the main rational for which was we don't want these so-called industries of the future controlled by foreign countries and by foreign companies. and here we are, transferring

all of this property over to a chinese company. and there was an american buyer. there was an american buyer. an american-owned option. >> on that point, alan, is there any sensitive technology or information that is going to be given to the chinese through this trance ak. >> that's a great question, mandy. you are broadcasting from northern jersey, right sni think you recently you learned how important electricity grids are, right? when you don't have electrical power bb life becomes very bad. a123 is making product that helps control the electricity grid system. do we want the chinese owning this technology? the possibility for sabotage is after t astro nom cal. >> maybe they have the cash to put it underground. >> the price of saving these

jobs is forbiddingly high. we shouldn't even be thinking about it. we had a u.s.-owned buyer. >> no, they dropped out. >> because the price was too high. >> that's h that's the way the bankruptcy process work. >> no, no. johnson controls does business with the u.s. government and i'm sure it values very much and clever politicianes with any street smarts would have said to johnson controls, let's bargain here. let's make a deal. >> have you proof of that? >> what's that? >> do you have proof of that? . you are basically saying that johnson controls said step aside for the deal to go through. >> no, they didn't step aside. they dpt negotiate with them or didn't do so skillfully enough. >> johnson controls did not want to. i'm not defending the chinese here. but you keep saying there was an american buyer and there was not

an american buyer. >> there was an interest to keep the technology in american hands. the u.s. government acted like this was an ordinary commercial business. >> isn't it better to let the company and many employees go to dust? what is it about the chinese in particular you are against? what if there was an french buyer 0r australian buyer? what is it about the chinese that concerns you here, alan? >> they have sabsly nothing to do with free market -- >> but they are improving. they are not at the same level as us -- >> the chinese leaders themselves, these new chinese leaders have even said this. why not take their own word for this? >> you would amend the bankruptcy laws and say this company is up for bid -- >> when have you a u.s. taxpayer stake in it, this is a different animal and it has to be handled

differently. and that's just common sense. >> what is the lesser evil? having people lose their jobs? >> we have to look beyond the edge of our noses here. we have to look longer term than this. we have to think more than about the jobs. i feel for the workers but larger considerations are at stake. that's why we have a government. >> i think at the end of the day not all chinese companies are bad. >> i'm not saying that. but you know what? no reason to take this risk, none. >> alan, it is a great debate. thank you, phil, for your point as well. >> sure. thank you. >> coming up, headlines between hp's big news. >> one police department says they could get you killed. seriously. we're not kidding here. also from my homeland, australius a traila /* australia.

or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. governor of getting it done. you know how to dance...

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i'm leaving on a jet plane on this day 54 years ago. first domestic jet flight took off. national airlines boeing 707 flight from new york to miami

with 111 passengers on board. fast forward to today and more than 23,000 domestic flights take off daily. i can imagine as some of the foengs on that flight, all that time ago, would have been a wee bit nervous thinking how can something so heavy fly so high. >> tan fantastic, though. that's when air travel was glamorous. you didn't get patted down. >> could you smoke and have your martini at the same time. >> and people dressed up. and now, if you good to vegas, people fly in their underwear. let's be honest. >> people lost their underwear in vegas. >> this is to vegas. >> people getting a seat a the hostess table. many middle market companies are taking part. >> thank you, brian. hostess has been for sale since last january. now that it is liquidating, it will no longer be sold as a whole company with $2.3 billion in sales but instead sold off

piece by piece. it is expected to be half of the hole or about a billion dollars with many brands in the middle market sweet spot. with two likely hostess brands ready to take the cake. sorry for the pun. wonder bread has sales of roughly $500 million. needs to get sold and back on shelves before consumers change tastes. the branded snacks are close to a billion dollars. but it is not known if twinkie or snowball will be sold separately. first have you strategic global snack companies like flowers foods and regional bakeries. kroeger companies sell the product and make a lot of money doing it. financial sponsor like pabst blue ribbon are also lobbying. the next few weeks, we should be

able to tell who will pro viet a new home for hostess. >> all right, guys. and kayla within thank you very much. the president speaking at a daimler factory. let's listen in. [ inaudible ] [ laughter ] >> i would like to come here and talk a little smack about the bears. we didn't quite get it done, but it is wonderful to be back. it is good to see everybody in the great state of michigan. [ cheers and applause ] >> few people i want it acknowledge. the mayor of detroit is in the house. >> tracy schultz. we've got -- >> the daimler plant. let's get on the dsk settlement.

jackie at hq, what are we learning? >> a in, city judge approved a settlement in the civil case against dominique strauss-kahn. details are confidential. the accuser's lawsuit again the new york post has also been settled. we will bring you more as soon as we have it. thank you. back to you. >> thank you, jackie. up next, is the apple growth story over? >> and sale fail. why does jc penney keep changing its strategy? ♪ [ male announcer ] 'tis the season to discover the kid in all of us. enjoy free shipping and great values on your holiday shopping from l.l. bean. enjoy free shipping and great values sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing

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welcome back, everybody. the president is still speaking live at a daimler plant in detroit. our very own john howard is currently monitoring what he has it say. if there is anything of note he will bring it to us. in the meantime, it is street talk time. we will walk you through, or stand you through, as the case may be. and we're obviously down here on wall street tp is it a wall street talk version. great to have you.

okay. hewlett-packard. >> normally we don't report just rumors but this is picked up by all kinds of publication. a report that icon may have an interest in hp. tasha noted a couple hours ago, there is an investor interested. there are vichbtors on the board as well. maybe him and icon to colorado have trouble getting along. but the rumor of acahn moving into hphq. >> jeffries has cut his price target for apple. not a huge slice and get this. price target cut from 900 to 800 and even with a cut target you are look at 275 bucks more on apple. but he is pointing to the likelihood of decelerating growth. though he did maintain buy rating and as asian suppliers

cut back on cost concessions. so there you go. >> let's look at groupon. another stock moving on. and on friday, massive listings but give back today. >> no news on group yn but the stock pulling back after mandy told you. because there was chatter around the market. the only reason we talk about it is because it is picked up by somebody else and people are writing about it, blah blah blah, that google could make a bid for the company. now remember, google is said to have interest in groupon before it went public. the $6 billion number was tossed around. could you imagine? you look at what they've got now. google thing still going around the market. we read and respected in the tech world, give me a break. it'll never happen. but the stock did move friday on the news. a big move. now what is this stock up to. >> we don't talk about them much. the 12 month clinical trial of

an experimental leukemia drug. >> nexen, again, a company we don't talk much about, but what is up to? >> we don't talk about it much because it is canadian. don't know if you hate it canada like you do american. but a big energy company. here is the deal. people got outraged, just like we are facing here. oh, can't let chinese buy our energy property, terrorism, blah blah blah. guess what? they are allowing the deal to go through. other companies are falling because they may impart new rules. saying we don't know if theant prices can by our energy companies. does that sound familiar in any way? >> this is the is the version

of -- >> i don't hate canadians. why do you? >> i don't hate canadians. i hate everybody. i'm kidding. >> now getting cheaper by the minute, what is going on? >> in the energy complex, mandy, we are looking at near lay two-month low as it settles around 2.46. when you look at temperatures facing right now in new york city above 06 degrees in the middle of december, and mild forecast ahead, that lets you know of course that's a bear sign for natural gas. add to that the fact that many analysts say we will see an addition shown in this week's report. that is highly ununusual as well. barclays says with the technical weakness we are seeing, look for natural gas to continue to drift

toward $3.20 level. back to you. >> it is very warm on the streets of new york. thank you very much. okay. let's talk jc penney. why not, right? seems to be making yet another change. the company announcing 20% off friends and family sale. even as ceo is famously stated how much he dislikes the sale model and wants to get a long way away from it. let's bring in the big deal. let's bring in a former department store executive. so you know a thing or two about this. >> this is not crazy. he has it get his store going. he needs people in his store. he ran a black friday sale. now friends and family. >> i thought he said i don't want sales. everyday low pricing. consistent model. >> pricing integrity. the guy wants pricing integrity. >> you can be a when price and still run events to bring people in. i think that's what he is moving

toward. it took him a while to get there. we have had a few slow starts. he won't run 590 a year like he used to. he will bring in people to see the store. i took people in to see the store, they loved it. some had not been there. >> what did they say? >> brighter, better, mountains is better. >> you were taken there probably by bus on some media junket and force need the store. getting people to go into jc penney voluntarily was the challenge. >> it was worse than that. i paid for dinner to get people to walk through the store. >> you paid to get into a jc penney store. come on. >> he's got to get them there, that's the point. things like black friday sales and things like having 20% off for all friends and family, which is everyone of course, will bring people into the store. he has to get them in to see the

place. >> what timeframe is it going to take? >> third quarter, 2013. positive comps on jc penney. 40 shops running product. a lot of new stuff and some measured promotion. >> two things. number one, i'm notorious for losing bets. i bet they don't have positive comps any time next year. i bet you dinner. >> you're on was dude. >> dinner and trip to jc penney. >> i'll buy you dinner at target hot dog stand. >> perfect. >> say tleg think the flexibility of johnson and sell out model is positive if it is cannot trolled. not sure what they mean by that. but you agree with the thesis. this is a good thing? >> yeah. i think he has to do stuff to bring people in. they went cold turkey right? now they are adding a little bit back. they need to have promotional attempts. >> and these are year or year. and i'll take to you get a hot dog at target.

>> and i am the witness. okay, thank you very much. we now know the second win of last month's mega powerball jackpot. he lives in the nice area of fountain hills. he took his share this month. oh, and here is a first picture of him as well. let's have a look at him. >> there you go. matthew good. apparently pretty well off guy. and everybody loves a story where a rich guy wins the powerball. that's a feel-good story under america right now. >>ally, really? he might surprise us all and give a lot of it away it charity. >> do good, matthew good. forget the 401(k), should americans be forced to put not in moo a savings account?

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coming up on closing bell. jack is with us for the best investment advice for 2013. he will tell you why the speculation going on in the market and his view is hurting investors and society. then, it is d-day for hostess. and even jamie foxx is getting in on the twinkie battle but he take the ding-dong side. we will explain, coming up. and google is helping its bottom line by tax shelt efrs to avoid billions in taxes. but is that helping investors? well see. everybody is at the big board today. >> we are all down here. >> we are. everybody is in the family. we like it down here. maybe we'll see. you never know. all right, the apple map story. if you haven't heard this story, it is very interesting. is it the australian police? >> yes. >> australian defense minister. whatever you down there. is warning people, dent use

apple maps. it could be fatal. some people got lost in a national park. >> right. giving incomplete instructions. >> right. left at the dingo, right at the crocodile. they were getting stuck. australian police said don't use apple maps, they are dangerous. which is just bizarre. >> it is bizarre. feels like it is a little dire. in terms after warning. >> yeah. if you're under a national park in the outskirts, you're not in the hard streets of melbourne. >> people get lost in those national parks all the time. i get lost in them. follow the national dingos. follow the ants. they are going to water. >> maybe the dingo ate your lunch. >> i'm stopping there. there is a concern that apps aimed at kids may track and store information about them without letting parents know. julia has been following this

story for us from los angeles, and she is a mother also. julia, tell us more. >> well, mandy, the title of the fdc's new report says it all. the report is called the mobile apps for kids not making the grade. and this report is important because the ftc study of 400 kids apps in google and apples app stores lays the ground work for ftc to disclose inaccurate privacy and charge-out makers. this could update the children's on-line privacy protection act which has been around since 1998. that's a lifetime ago and the rapidly changing world of mobile technology. according to the ftc in this new report only 20% of the 400 apps provided disclosures about data collection practices. most of those 400 aps failed to tell parent when they feature interactive features like ads, social network sharing or

purchases of virtual goods. ftc telling us that we think apple and google can play a more active rule to show transparency. in problems of terms of transparency was in both forms. we did not receive comment from apple or google. all four of the companies do post privacy policies prominently under their sites. we will see if the ftc makers and either companies and mom and pop shops, if they actually prosecute any of these apps. guys, back over to you. >> thank you very much. meantime, if you are still doing holiday shopping, and most of you probably are, listen up. a new company has is a gift experience for the sports fan in your life. brian shackman is a big sports

fan. >> yes i am. >> he is looking at the game plan and what they are promising. brian? >> if you pooled all of the money spent on useless stuff you spent on your significant others the last five years with you could probably have one significant purchase through a market shuzio. there are current and former athletes that have a page of what they like to do and for how much. consumers choose one or customize an experience. tiki is the founder and client, like the hair club for men, right? recently playing flag football. he also does karaoke. tim hardaway will hang out for a thousand bucks. larry holmes will do just about anything for $6250, within reason. dickey will do something for 10,000. and slauson will do something

for 200 to 2,000. he is buried in the roster. he can build a brand, interact with fans and make a little bit of money. >> can i ask you a question some. >> yes. >> if you had a dream athletic experience, what would you do? and keep it clean. >> thank you mandy. as i waste time for myself. i grew up a hockey fan but i'm a huge baseball fan. but i have a man crush on tom brady. i would like him to play catch with my son. that would probably be it. he would go bananas if he saw him. but tom can't wear his uggs though. >> brian? >> it happened. >> it did? >> it already happened. >> what is it? >> skydiving with usain bolt. >> it did? ? no. i'm totally kidding.

>> we would probably need money to bail you out because you would probably be incarcerated. >> free tees for your show. >> thanks. >> next up, scary stats on savings. get this, average american family savings accounts has a balance. just $3800. is it time to take a stand and force us all to save money? mandy, i know you are on the closing bell today. >> yes. >> out. >> change into your cape. >> telephone superman change and come back in exactly the same outfit. >> but on "closing bell." so we'll miss you for the last ten minutes of the show. i can smell the ratings collapsing. we're back after this.

and that is a live look at the plant in detroit. the president working the crowd. just finishing up his comments. obviously making comments about protecting the middle class, talking about his tax plan. also mentioning collective bargaining agreements saying not in favor of states taking back that right. not a surprise there especially because he's also at a uaw factory. the president and everybody with their phones and i think that's actually a digital camera in the background. haven't seen one of those in

awhile. all right. just about everybody agrees. entitlement reform and less government spending is a must to right our fiscal ship and we're open to all ideas. including this. ending the pretax deduction benefit for 401(k) plans. one study from denmark showed that people saved just as much whether they had a tax deduction on their 401(k) or not. let's bring in mike asanian at forbes. mike, first to savings. should we have a mandated opt out system for saving 2% of 3% of your income automatically put into a savings account? >> no. this is taking away our liberty. it's our money. we earned hit. the government should stay away from it. i didn't read anything in the constitution that grants the government the right to save for our retirement. >> but there's nothing to say

our government's going to get so big and have all these entitlements that we actually need to spend money on. but they exist. and they're not going away. >> -- which is limited government. we need to get back to limited government. if the government didn't tax us to death all the time we'd have more money for savings. if they didn't invest it into solyndra or money losing investments like general motors, we'd have more money. we these to phase out this dependency. not say you're too stupid to save for retirement, leave it to us. because we're so great at things like social security. >> i don't think the government is saying that. let's be honest. they incentivized people which i don't want to call is a forcing. but you're highly lly incentiv.

can you hear me? >> it got very low. >> i've never heard that in my life. >> i got you now. >> no problem. understandable. one study shows we spend $100 billion on lost revenue from 401(k) deductions. denmark had a similar plan but said people would save the same whether they had the deduction or not. are you in favor of ending that? >> i'm for people having an equal playing field. what you're pointing out are the distorpgss caused by the fact when you offer certain tax deductions, everyone should have the same tax rate. but you already have 401(k), you should be allowed to get what you play into it and play by those rules. it should be for new participants that the rules change. right now the problem is you look at something like medicare where spending per person has

doubled over the last ten years. that's a government program that needs to be curtailed. when the government comes in, you get a worse deal, higher cost. the only thing they come back with is we need higher tax revenue. >> when the family is taking $3 of medicare benefits for every dollar you spend in on taxes. we'll get you back on soon. all right. we wrap up the president's speech coming up next. and "closing bell" with mandy. a. a. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

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